The present invention relates broadly to the production of a catalyst for introduction into fossil fuel burning burners, furnaces and related heat producing equipment. The catalyst is introduced into the heat producing equipment in order to increase the efficiency of the combustion process.
One type of prior art system utilizes water vapor or mist as the catalytic agent. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,819 of Wentworth, Jr. (hereinafter "Wentworth"). Wentworth's apparatus utilizes a tube having a single inlet opening for bubbling air under pressure through water within a container. The air under pressure is supplied through a conduit connected to the air blower or a fossil fuel combustion system. The water in the container has a thin layer of oil floating on its upper surface. The air is bubbled through the water in such a manner to produce particles of water vapor or mist which are coated with a layer of oil. An outlet conduit is connected above the water level and withdraws the oil-coated vapor or mist from the container and introduces it into the air blower. Since water vapor is being withdrawn from the container, a water supply and water level control mechanism are utilized.
While the apparatus disclosed in Wentworth utilizes water vapor or mist as the catalytic agent, the present invention is designed to utilize relatively dry ionized air as the catalytic agent. A mist removing mechanism is provided for removing water mist from the ionized air before it exits from the container of the present invention. The need for using oil as a rust preventing agent with water vapor or mist is thus eliminated. Further, Wentworth's apparatus bubbles air through the water and oil in the container in a single stream of bubbles. This is not believed to be sufficient to effectively ionize air as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,172 of Mills (hereinafter "Mills") discloses an apparatus for producing a mist of a fluid, for example, a mixture of water and methly alcohol, and for introducing the mist into a fuel inlet stream of an internal combustion engine. The mist is produced by bubbling air through water in a container, such as a quart jar. Air is introduced into the container through an air inlet in the top of the container. A tube within the container connects the air inlet to an aerator member on the bottom of the container. The aerator has an open bottom which is sealed against the bottom inside wall of the jar and has a plurality of small holes to allow the gas to escape into the water in narrow steams of fine bubbles.
The air inlet of Mills' apparatus has a metering system to control the amount of air allowed into the container which in turn controls the amount of bubling and, hence, the amount of mist produced in the container. The inlet air is adjusted until a cloud appears above the fluid within the container indicating a large quantity of fluid entrained in the air. The air with its entrained mist is then introduced into the fuel stream between the output of the carburetor and the input to the engine's cylinders.
The present invention is for use only with stationary combustion apparatus, such as boilers, water heaters and furnaces, in which the fuel is continuously burned to produce heat. The present invention is not adapted for use with internal combustion engines wherein the fuel is being burned intermittently, not to produce heat, but rather to produce expansion force.
Mills, like Wentworth, is concerned with introducing mist into a fuel system wherein the mist itself is the catalytic agent. By introducing the mist into the fuel mixture, the fuel is being modified. In the present invention, the catalyst is the ionized air. Thus, in the present invention, the air, not the fuel, is being modified. As set forth more particularly hereinafter, substantially all mist produced by bubbling air through water in the container of the apparatus of the present invention to produce ionized air is removed from the ionized air before the ionized air is removed from the container and introduced into an air stream for ultimate mixing with the fuel in a combustion chamber.
The present invention is based upon the discovery that the apparatus and method described herein produces significantly more efficient combustion of fossil fuels in fossil fuel combustion systems. When using the present invention, the following observable results have been noted: a significant increase in carbon dioxide content of flue gases; a marked downward shift of the smoke point; significant changes in stack temperatures, either upward or downward, depending on the amount of carbon present on heat exchange surfaces at time the invention is applied to the system; the flame envelope is more uniform in appearance; a marked brightening of the fire; reduction of running time of the burner; and dramatic reductions in fuel consumption while producing the same amount of heat.
Although these observable results have been noted, the scientific causes and/or theories relating to such results are not understood. It is believed that the enhanced efficiency of the combustion apparatus connected to the apparatus of the present invention is due to the presence of ionized air produced by the catalyst generator of the present invention, although the inventors do not wish to be bound by any suggested theory.
The existence of air ions in the atmosphere is well known. See, for example, A. P. Krueger and S. Sigel, "Ions In The Air", Human Nature, July 1978, pp. 46, 48 and 52:
"Air ions are molecules of the common atmospheric gases that have taken on a negative or a positive charge. Their formation begins when energy produced by radioactive elements in the soil or by cosmic rays causes a gaseous molecule to lose an electron. The freed electron attaches to an adjacent molecule and the original molecule then has a positive charge, its neighbor, a negative one. Water vapor, oxygen, and hydrogen molecules cluster about the charged particle to form a "small air ion". The speed with which air ions form and recombine to neutralize their charges means there can be, at most, several thousand ions per cubic centimeter of air. The same cubic centimeter contains about 10 million trillion uncharged particles.
There are other natural sources of energy that increase the number of ions in the air, among them the shearing of water molecules in waterfalls or in the pounding of the surf and the movement of great winds across large land masses, like the foehn of Germany and the mistral of France."
When air is passed through the water in the container of the apparatus of the present invention in a plurality of streams from the manifold adjacent the bottom of the container, it is believed that the interaction between the several streams of small air bubbles and the water interacts to create positively and negatively charged air ions. (The ions may be caused by the shearing of water molecules contained in the air introduced into the container or, perhaps, water molecules may be picked up by the air as it passes through the water.)
In one test of the apparatus according to the present invention, the ambient laboratory air contained about 1300 positive ions and about 1000 negative ions per cubic centimeter as measured by an ion collection chamber in conjunction with an electrometer. The ambient air in the laboratory was passed through the apparatus according to the present invention containing demineralized water at a depth of about 9 inches. After passing through the apparatus, about 7 million positive ions were detected and about 11 million negative ions were detected. Thus, not only were more ions formed by the apparatus than in the ambient atmosphere, but also the major portion of the ions formed had a negative charge.
In addition to generating air ions wherein a major portion of the ions are negatively charged, the apparatus according to the present invention is believed to cause the production of ozone, tri-atomic oxygen (O.sub.3). Upon introducing ozone to high heat and turbulence, the ozone degrades instantly into pure oxygen which enhances combustion. This could account for the immediate brightening of the fire upon the introduction of the ionized air from the apparatus. In addition, some ozone-sensitive people in the vicinity of the apparatus of the present invention have reported discomfort similar to the discomfort felt when being subjected to ozone. It is believed that the formation of ozone in the apparatus of the present invention is similar to the formation of ozone associated with electrical storms.
Again, while the inventors do not wish to be bound by any particular theory, they believe that introduction into the air/fuel mixing apparatus of combustion equipment, at or immediately prior to ignition of a small quantity of ionized air containing a major portion of either positively charged ions or negatively charged ions, but in this instance, negatively charged ions, increases the frequency and velocity of random trajectories of the fuel and air molecules and combustion radicals present in the combustion process. It is believed that this causes more precise cracking of hydrocarbons, thus releasing more of their latent energy to make the combustion process significantly more efficient.
Consequently, fossil fuel burning apparatus can be operated closer to the smoke point at more precise air to fuel ratios, materially reducing the amount of excess air generally required in conventional combustion vessels to achieve a substantially smokeless fire. The predictable result is increased exposure time of the hot gases to the heat exchange surfaces (since less excess air is required to alleviate the formation of smoke), and significant reductions in the quantity of energy being exhausted through the stack. In many instances, fuel firing rates can be reduced without curtailing production of heat.
In one analysis of flue gas of a non-forced draft gas fired burner prior to and subsequent to the application of the apparatus of the present invention, the following results were noted. Before the apparatus was applied, the percentage of carbon dioxide in the flue gas from a low fire was 4.5%, in a high fire 5.0% and the stack temperature was 790.degree. F. After the application of the apparatus of the present invention, the percentage of carbon dioxide in the flue gas was 6.5% for a burner burning with a low fire, 8.0% for a burner burning with a high fire and the stack temperature was 750.degree. F. Comparable results were achieved using this invention with forced air draft oil fired boilers.
The percentage of carbon dioxide flue gas is a direct function of hydrocarbon cracking. An increase in the quantity of hydrocarbons cracked is directly proportional to an increase in carbon dioxide in the flue gas. Likewise, the number of hydrocarbons cracked in the combustion process is directly related to the amount of energy released. The drop in flue gas temperatures indicated in these tests is the result of more rapid cracking of hydrocarbons caused by the present invention. The test data for the burner prior to the installation of the apparatus according to the present invention indicates an excessive amount of partially cracked hydrocarbons passing through a combustion chamber and out the exhaust stack carrying with them quantities of unreleased energy.